The best thing about a Ryan Murphy TV show is that almost anything can happen at any moment. That can also be the worst thing.
Starting with his first big creative breakthrough, the FX plastic surgery drama Nip/Tuck, and moving on to bigger hits like American Horror Story and the 9-1-1 franchise, Murphy has been our most maximalist of showrunners. He will try almost anything that he finds interesting, even ones that break the tone and/or story he's established to that point. When it works, it's thrilling. When it doesn't, it can be like a slow-motion car wreck. And even then, it's usually interesting — though much of Murphy's recent output has been fairly uninspired, obligatory-feeling true crime dramas for Netflix with titles like Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story.
His new FX series The Beauty, co-created by Murphy and Matthew Hodgson, finds him back in everything-but-the-kitchen-sink-mode. It revisits many of his pet themes, most notably the body dysmorphia from Nip/Tuck. It features a cast packed with repertory players from past series, with American Horror Stories alum Evan Peters in one of the lead roles. It takes place on a bigger scale from most of Murphy's prior shows, with big action set pieces and/or scenes filmed on location in Europe. It's full of big ideas, disgusting images, and attention-getting dialogue. You will not be bored.